1999 Quilceda Creek Washington Cabernet Sauvignon

The sumptuous 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon is a dark ruby-colored wine with mouth-watering aromas of highly expressive blackberries awash in toasted oak and roasting spices. Medium to full-bodied, thick, concentrated, and exquisitely balanced, this mouth-coating tour de force is densely packed with jammy black fruits and cassis liqueur. It combines elegance with power in a manner reminiscent of Chateaux Margaux's prodigious 1990. This velvety-textured wine is complete, with magnificent depth of fruit, a profound personality, and the requisite structure for long-term cellaring. Bravo! (PR) (12/2002)

Dense and beautifully focused, firm texture, with bay leaf-scented cherry and currant flavors that last and last on the chewy finish. Built for the cellar, this has the intensity, length and depth to go on. (HS) (11/2002)

Full red-ruby. Highly nuanced nose combines sappy black raspberry, black cherry, spicy oak, loam and menthol, plus hints of meat and maple syrup. Offers a compelling combination of sweetness and grip. The lush palate is spicy but shapely and nicely delineated; not yet complex but already exudes lovely inner-mouth perfume. Very long, broad finish features substantial tannins that coat the entire mouth and dust the teeth. Shows the hint of austerity that promises a long and graceful evolution in bottle. Should rank among the best cabernets to date from this world-class producer. (ST) 93+ (9/2002)

Quilceda makes big, muscular Cabernets, but the power is tightly controlled and never out of whack. Firm cherry fruit is edged with mixed spices from barrel aging. Still young and hard, this is a tannic wine that clearly has the stuffing and structure to age indefinitely, but if drunk now will require many hours of breathing time. *Editors' Choice* (PG) (6/2002)